> Miller's advice to the rookies -- and anyone else angling for chance at longevity of any kind -- is simple: "Stay in good health. Watch your diet. Get enough sleep. And most of all, after the day is finished, don't worry about it."
> His children recall him working long hours, leaving home not long after dawn and returning home at 11 p.m., spending his days working two or three jobs at a time.
Getting home at 11pm doesn't leave a lot of time to worry about anything I suppose.
Rote learning is the most important skill I've ever picked up. It teaches you humility and that hard work matters. It's unattractive but I found it fundamental to my education.
It's useful to bootstrap things but it cripples your mind too, often you need to be creative and that's where rote learning stops being useful.
But in a way, I feel like many times, I reach understanding of a topic, after some information has sit in my brain enough that "i get it". I often don't feel I've done something special compared to my state the day before. So maybe it's all rote learning.
I would argue that memorization of an algorithm or formula without understanding of how they work cripples your ability to apply them creatively.
However I would also argue that memorization is the precursor to understanding.
I think the main issue with rote learning in schools is when only memorization is taught and tested. For example: teaching and testing how to solve the same type of problem and grading the accuracy of solving without having any critical thinking/application problems is, in my opinion, a mistake.
> Miller's advice to the rookies -- and anyone else angling for chance at longevity of any kind -- is simple: "Stay in good health. Watch your diet. Get enough sleep. And most of all, after the day is finished, don't worry about it."
I'll never forget that advice.
> His children recall him working long hours, leaving home not long after dawn and returning home at 11 p.m., spending his days working two or three jobs at a time.
Getting home at 11pm doesn't leave a lot of time to worry about anything I suppose.
> Technology, he says, can't make a student any smarter.
But in a way, I feel like many times, I reach understanding of a topic, after some information has sit in my brain enough that "i get it". I often don't feel I've done something special compared to my state the day before. So maybe it's all rote learning.
However I would also argue that memorization is the precursor to understanding.
I think the main issue with rote learning in schools is when only memorization is taught and tested. For example: teaching and testing how to solve the same type of problem and grading the accuracy of solving without having any critical thinking/application problems is, in my opinion, a mistake.